Writings on the Wall
by Cassandra Lee
Summary: Hermione retraces some earlier steps. Character death implied.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Yes, it has been rewritten. Yes, there will be a second chapter. Yes, it will be up soon. Yes, you should review this haunting little tale I rewrote just now.

**Disclaimer: **No, I did not invent this smashing little world. Yes, I am upset that J.K.Rowling was denied "Person of the Year" award by time...I mean really, Vladamir Putin over J.K.Rowling?? Who is he...well, nevermind...

* * *

Running her fingers over the imprinted words, she knew that they would never change. They would always be there: 

H.G

R.W

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

She sighed and left the bathroom. Looking around the hallway, she swore she heard the voices of herself and her two best friends, laughing and considering options.

Just as she was leaving, she was startled by someone coming up behind her.

'Hey.'

'Harry, you scared me.'

'Sorry. Didn't mean to. You okay?'

'Yea, just thinking.' Hermione looked down at her shoes. 'I can't believe that he's really gone Harry.'

Harry looked into her eyes and nodded. 'I know. It's going to be hard, but you have Rose and Hugo and me and Ginny and everyone else. You're not alone.'

Hermione nodded, tears welling up in her eyes.

'Mum?' Hermione looked up as Rose and Hugo came down the hall towards her and Harry. 'Aunt Ginny said that people are starting to leave and some of them are asking for you.'

'Tell her I'll be back home in a second.' Rose walked over and hugged her mother.

'I miss him too, Mum.'

Hermione nodded and held out her arm for Hugo to come forward as well. He walked forward and hugged his mother and sister as tight as he could, reassuring both of them in a whispered tone.

'I'll meet you downstairs, Hermione.' Harry said and kissed the top of both Hermione and Rose's head.

Rose and Hugo eventually let go, kissed their mother and walked back down to the fireplace where they had flooed in from.

Hermione stood in the hallway for another moment, before walking quickly down the hall to the boy's loo. Checking that no one was in there, she looked in all the stalls until she found what she was looking for.

There, on the wall was an engraved message that would never change:

R.W.

H.G

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997


	2. Chapter 2

After Harry went through the fire with the potions, I raced back to Ron. When the queen knocked him down, I was terrified. These weren't just little plastic pieces that a child played with. These were huge, stone pieces that could kill. And I was fairly sure they would too. So, when the queen hit Ron, my heart dropped to my toes. When I raced back to him and woke him, I couldn't stop the tears from coming. This boy, this gawky, prepubescent boy had saved me not once, but twice. Why are you crying, Hermione? He asked me. I lied and told him something stupid, something I don't even remember now. I told him we had to hurry; we had to send an owl to Professor Dumbledore to get him back to the school. He didn't question me. I had gotten us out of enough jams that he trusted me. He got up as fast as he could and followed me.

Later that day, I told Ron I had to stop at a bathroom on our way back from the hospital wing. He nodded and said he did too, so we both went our separate ways. I had lied to him again. I didn't have to go. I wanted to imprint something where people, but not all could see. On the bathroom stall wall on the fifth floor, I carved

HG

RW

1991

in the wall. Now, everyone could know.

* * *

_It wasn't like I was in love with her at the time. I was twelve years old for Merlin's sake! But she was my best friend and she was lying in a hospital bed, petrified. She was frozen solid. Her arm was in an uncomfortable position hold up like that. I felt bad, who wouldn't?_

_The night Harry, Lockhart, and I went to save Ginny in the Chamber, I was terrified. Not just for my life, but for the person I had to leave behind. Harry, Hermione, and I were the "Golden Trio." Without Hermione, Harry and I had the IQ of a 10 year old. Hermione was the brains behind everything we did. The minute I was done sending the owl for Professor Dumbledore, I raced to the hospital wing. There was no change, but it felt good to know that I had made it through something without Hermione._

_After visiting with her a little bit, I went to the water closet on the fifth floor. Last year, in one of the stalls, I had carved something and I wanted to add to it._

_As I walked into the stall, I found no one had said anything about it. Still there, it read_

_RW_

_HG_

_1991._

_I looked around and wrote_

_1992_

_underneath it.

* * *

_

Compared to our other two years at Hogwarts, our third year was quite uneventful, adventure-wise. Ron and I, on the other hand, got into quite a few fights; the largest one, the one that hurt the most, was over his stupid rat and poor Crookshanks. He claimed my cat had eaten his rat. Would've given him indigestion if he had.

Anyways, after we made up, I felt bad. I mean, he had lost his rat after all. And when I thought Sirius had tried to kill him, I felt even worse. Watching him being dragged down into the Whomping Willow was one of the worst things I could've watched. The evening just wasn't what it could've been. Leaving him behind when Harry and I went back, I wished it had been Ron. Not that I don't like Harry, but…

The next day, Ron and I went up to see Harry in the hospital wing. On the way back, I used the same excuse I had first year and slipped into the water closet on the fifth floor. I found my stall and ran my hands over the carvings:

HG

RW

1991

1992.

I added last year after I was unpetrified. I took out my wand and whispered "insculpio." When it was done,

1993

had been added.

* * *

_I didn't realize just how possessive I was of Hermione until the Yule Ball. Watching her dance with "Vicky" was just…there aren't really any words to describe it._

_So, of course, I did what any mature, fourteen year old would do…I blamed it on Hermione._

_It didn't turn out like I thought it would. But, then when both of us were called down for the second task, it was okay. We were both nervous. We talked about what we expected._

_And then "the hug" afterwards. I could see Krum just seething with anger. After that, I just dropped the subject. We helped Harry learn the curses he needed to, we did research on different mazes. We just went back to being us again._

_But something had changed._

_One night, I borrowed Harry's cloak while he was sleeping and snuck down to the water closet on the fifth floor. I pulled out a knife I had swiped from dinner that night and under the other dates, I carved_

_1994._

_Even Vicky Krum couldn't argue with that.

* * *

_

­­Everything seemed to change for us fifth year. There didn't seem to be quite a huge age difference between Ginny and I, so we started talking. We had talked before, but for the most part she was still Ron's little sister. Now, she was Ginny. It felt good to bounce ideas off of another girl, instead of having to use hypothetical situations with Lavender and Parvati that they didn't understand. We talked about Harry and her massive crush on him. We talked about Ron and my massive denial of a crush on him.

Mrs. Weasley used Ginny a lot more in the kitchen as well that summer, so Ron and I spent a good deal of time together. Mostly, we were just sitting in the library. I had begged Mrs. Weasley to clean that out as soon as she could. I told her I would do it by myself if I had to. She agreed. And she told Ron to help. So he did.

That's when we talked about Harry. It was a little frustrating. Anything else, he didn't seem to have an opinion on. Only on Harry. Once Harry arrived though, it ended. He had Harry to talk to about things they both liked and I was, once again, the studious Hermione in the group.

But then they both got into schoolwork when we got back, what with the D.A. and our O.W.Ls. It was a relief not to be sitting in the library at night by myself. I could look over at Ron and it amused me to see him being so studious.

And then dealing with Umbridge. Walking into the forest with Harry, I thought about everything Ginny had been talking to me about this summer about Ron. I knew all these things. I knew that he put things off until the very last minute. I didn't know that he always made sure that Aunt Muriel got a floo call or at least a card from the entire family on her birthday. I knew that he had the worst mouth in the world. I didn't know that he had a scar behind his ear from when a gnome bit him when he was seven.

Getting back from the Ministry, I was just glad that everyone was okay. At least, that no one had been seriously injured. Or killed. Walking back from the hospital wing, I stopped at the fifth floor bathroom and found my stall. It was still there.

H.G.

R.W.

1991

1992

1993

1994

I had added "1994" after Cedric's funeral. I had also cried for about five minutes in there. I was so scared. And after the Ministry, it all seemed so much worse. There really was going to be a war. And I wanted to make sure that this would last long after.

After I inscribed "1995," I ran my hand over it. Five years was a long time to wait and still not have a reply.

But people have told me that I'm a very determined girl. Young woman, actually.

* * *

_Everyone is allowed at least five major mistakes in their lives. Per best friend. For Hermione, I'm pretty sure I've used up all mine and then some. But the worst was Lavender._

_She was so forthright, yet shy at the same time. She would force me down, and then act amazingly stupid. I didn't know what kind of games she was playing at, but I tried to play along. I guess I did a good job._

_Hermione, on the other hand, was just forthright. She'd let you know when you had pissed her off. And I like that. I like knowing when I'm in trouble. I like knowing that she really is smarter than me. I don't like it when people try to make me feel smarter than I know I am. _

_Lavender was always acting like she was extremely jealous of every girl I talked to, including Ginny. She tried to get in on everything. Hermione was never like that. _

_I felt bad comparing Lavender to Hermione all the time. It was a losing battle on Lavender's part. I finally had to admit to myself that Hermione was not just my best friend who happened to be a very intelligent girl. Which she was. But for some reason, I found her intelligence very…sexy. And only in her. Ginny intelligence's just scared the shit out of me and other girls were just too bossy. Not that Hermione wasn't. 'Cuz she is. But that good kind of bossy. That sexy bossy. That…_

_After the battle, I went up to the bathroom. The Felix Felicis had worn off and Peeves found me. He followed me into the bathroom, taunting me, until I used _Levicorpus _on him. He ran, threatening me with everything from a Howler to a thousand dung bombs in my bed. He didn't have anything and we both knew that._

_I looked at the wall. People had scrawled things next to it, but nothing about the actually writing I had done. Things like _"Johnny was here" _and _"Tornados forever!" _were written on the wall. Stupid stuff. Someone had written something about Lavender and I. I scrapped that off before I wrote what I had intended to._

_I made sure that the "1996" was in the best hand writing I could muster. I didn't want _everyone_ knowing what was going on. I still had a rep to protect.

* * *

_

I felt betrayed.

He walked away. From everything and everyone.

Of course when I told Harry I would go with him, I was scared. But Ron was coming too. And when the three of us got together, we were invincible. We could do anything. But that was only if there was three.

But then, he came back.

And I was glad; I was thrilled; I was ecstatic!

But it hurt even worse then when he left because I didn't know if he would leave again. I couldn't let barriers down in case he decided to leave again.

And then Harry said the name. And suddenly, I was in a library with a thousand thoughts running through my head while Bellatrix Lestrange stood over top of me.

I heard his voice, though. Through all the levels and the wood and the carpet and the tacky decorations, I heard his voice calling my name.

And that's what kept me strong. That's what dropped the barriers so I could fight.

After the battle, I took some time to just walk the halls of the school. I knew that I could never come back here again in the same way. Trying to finish my classes here would be impossible. There were too many battles.

Every time I would go to walk past the Room of Requirement, I would think of Percy and smile and Fred and cry.

Every time I would walk into the great hall, I would think of the first time I saw Remus and Tonks, lying there, cold, but together.

Every time I would walk past the Astronomy tower, I would think how Bill almost lost his life.

Every time I would walk past the Great Lake, I would remember Colin trying to get a picture of the Giant Squid.

It was just easier to finish on my own. But before I left for good, I knew I had to make a quick bathroom stop.

And there, after all the years of abuse, it still shown.

H.G.

R.W.

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

"Hermione?"

"I'll be out in a sec, Ron."

I quickly carved "1997" and smiled. It had been seven years and the marks only grew deeper.

* * *

As the years after the battle passed, Hermione and Ron only grew closer. They began arguing less about larger things, such as Ron blowing Harry's problems completely out of proportion and arguing about the smaller things, like what color to paint the kitchen in the flat they had just bought. 

Occasionally, they would return to Hogwarts, either with Harry as the trio, just them as a duo, or sometimes one would visit when the other was away at work. It was on one of these solo trips that Ron realized exactly what he had to do.

Two weeks later, Ron was dragging Hermione through the halls of Hogwarts, ignoring her questions, constantly checking the Marauder's Map, which he had borrowed from Teddy.

"Ron, where are you taking me? What is so important that you need to watch for Peeves?"

Finally, Ron turned around. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes." The reply came quickly.

"Then shut up and stop asking questions."

Hermione huffed, but did not say another word until Ron pulled up short in front of her.

"Ron, what…?"

"I have something to show you."

"In the boys' loo?"

"Yes. No one's in there, I checked on the map." Ron grabbed her hand and pulled her in, making sure that no one else was around. "Now, I know that you will feel this is the greatest sin of all things, short of defacing _Hogwarts, a History_, but I must confess that I did make some remarks on a stall wall during school."

Hermione just smirked and cocked her head, nodding for him to continue.

With one hand in his pocket, he led her to the stall. "Please remember that these remarks still hold true today and will for many years. Even in the years when I was young and stupid (being all seven years of school and then some), I never wavered on these feelings, I just wasn't sure what they were or how to express them." He opened the stall door with one hand and with the other pulled out a simple diamond ring. "Hermione Granger, will you…?"

He never finished the question.

Hermione grabbed his empty hand and ran, pulling a very confused Ron, out of the bathroom and down the hall a mite, where she opened a stall door and pointed to markings that Ron realized after a moment, were almost identical to his.

"Yes."

Ron, still staring at the stall wall, looked from the wall to Hermione and back a few times before he realized she had answered him.

That afternoon, Headmaster McGonagall received several complaints from girls who were quite upset that the fifth floor girls bathroom on the west side of the school had been locked for an entire afternoon.


End file.
